Head Lines offers Dr. Michael E. Cooper's perspective on topics relevant to education and the Brewster community.
The Year Ahead, the Years Behind
October 2011
At our opening faculty meeting, I spent a few minutes sharing a portion of The Beloit College Mindset List. First created in 1998, each year’s list reflects the “world view” of college students entering their freshman year. Since our seniors are close to the same age as these students, I thought it was worth taking a few minutes to get everyone in the “mindset” of some of our incoming students. Here’s just a sampling from the list:
The only significant labor disputes in their lifetimes have been in major league sports.
Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents.
As they’ve grown up on websites and cell phones, adult experts have constantly fretted about their alleged deficits of empathy and concentration.
Refer to LBJ, and they might assume you're talking about LeBron James.
Their school’s “blackboards” have always been getting smarter.
They’ve always wanted to be like Shaq or Kobe: Michael Who?
Life has always been like a box of chocolates.
Now that you can relate to the “world view” of some of our students, let me offer a few demographics on this year’s student body.
We welcomed 144 new students to campus. For the first time in the school’s history, girls represent 65 percent of the freshman class: 35 girls out of 54 freshmen! This year’s overall student body represents 20 foreign countries and 28 states. Of our 364 students, 295 are boarding students and 69 are day students. With three freshmen entering as Curvey Scholars, we now have nine area day students benefiting from the generosity of the Curvey family.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR
Celebrating 125 Years
The 2011-2012 year is special in that we begin celebrating 125 years since the founding of Brewster Academy. The “Academy” dates back to 1820 when it was founded as Wolfeborough and Tuftonborough Academy; however, in 1886, upon his death, it was the will of John Brewster to provide for an Academy in his home village of Wolfeboro. Through John’s wishes and his endowment, the following year the school would become known as Brewster Academy.
Born in Wolfeboro, John had attended Wolfeborough and Tuftonborough Academy before enjoying a successful career as a Boston businessman. John never forgot his roots and understood the value of an education and how important it was for young people to have the prospect of attending school to gain the skills and knowledge to pursue a career. It was John’s determination to make a difference in the lives of young people that led him to make a remarkable contribution to educating not only the youth of this small village but to students who would travel to central New Hampshire to enroll as boarding students. Through his lasting endowment to the Academy, he left a wonderful legacy and example for us all.
Throughout this year, special note will be made of these remarkable 125 years of teaching and learning at Brewster Academy.
Next Phase of Project-Based Learning
Our academic program continues to evolve to ensure that we are instilling in our students the skills needed to meet the challenges they will face as college students and professionals in a rapidly changing world.
Work completed on the curriculum this summer will allow us to expand the two-week project-based learning period that all sophomores and juniors took part in last year to include freshmen. For seniors, the project-based learning experience will take on an even more significant role. Seniors will have the opportunity to work all year on a capstone project that will be an engaging and stimulating way for students to integrate and express the range of skills that they have developed over their time at Brewster. This has been designed as a constructive and authentic way for seniors to demonstrate their preparedness for graduation.
Blended Learning
Additionally, we are piloting two significant enhancements to our use of technology as we continue to take advantage of new resources that can help us deliver our program. We have introduced Rosetta Stone into some of our foreign language classes as a way to bring more personalization to that learning experience. We also are piloting the use of the course management system Moodle in some selected courses as a way to support us in delivering our curriculum to students in a robust, uniform online environment. We are excited about the opportunities that these two tools will provide for making the classroom experience even richer for our students.
Social and Emotional Literacy
After a year of intensive training with faculty and administrators, this fall marks the beginning of bringing the RULER Approach to our students. We knew from the initial discussions in our training that in order for the approach to be effective, it would take the whole school. Feedback from researchers at Yale who have worked with our trainers and staff attests to our readiness and ability to introduce the RULER Approach to our students.
Throughout the year, we will continue to partner with researchers at Yale, along with collaborative help from the University of New Hampshire, as we embark on the implementation of the RULER Approach: Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, and Regulating emotions. Evaluation and monitoring of our progress is a priority and to this end, students will complete a baseline assessment of their emotional literacy skills in the fall and then will complete a follow-up evaluation in the spring.
On the athletic fields, in the dormitories, and in classrooms students will be engaged in strategies to assist them in skills essential and integral to learning, becoming more self-aware, making sound judgments, and achieving success in school and beyond. We are confident that our commitment to social and emotional literacy will enhance our students’ experience and overall development. At a time when adolescents can benefit the most from knowing more about their emotions and how they can impact themselves and others, we are providing them with a vital ingredient in their growth and development in a most intentional manner.
We will continue to update this section on RULER and implementation of it, so please check here for updates or to become familiar with it.
The Face of Campus
Over the summer six residence halls underwent extensive renovations. The dorms on Lamb and Mason courts – some of you may remember these as Houses One through Six – received new roofs and windows; insulation upgrades; and individual room heating controls, all of which will help tighten the buildings, increase energy efficiency, and add to the comfort of our students. Additionally, they all received new carpets, furniture, fixtures, and painting throughout.
A section of the lower level of Hughes House was converted into a “quad” (a popular space) for four lucky boys assigned to this dorm.
The front of Avery House received a facelift thanks to the efforts of faculty member Matt Found and alumnus Cory Hunter ‘95. Hydrangeas and window boxes have replaced the shrubs, offering a more open and welcoming walk up to this small girls’ dorm. Cory also further enhanced the beautification project begun in Mason Court a few years ago by the Tambone family.
The tuned track in the Smith Center was replaced with a more solid decking and a new generation of track surface material. This track surface is in use in several schools and colleges in the Northeast and will be the track material used in the 2012 London Olympics. Additionally, the lanes alternately incorporate Brewster colors adding to the Bobcat spirit of this showcase facility.
Finally, in helping to get into the mindset of our students, I’m pleased to announce that I’m on Twitter. I hope you will follow me at: BA_DocCoops
Best regards,
Mike Cooper
Head of School